The Democratic Party has formed a special committee for pension reform to discuss the structural reform of the National Pension system. Given that the People Power Party and the Democratic Party have completed their agreement on the parameter reform, the goal now is to establish a preliminary direction for the remaining structural reform.

On Oct. 10, participants, including Park Chan-dae, Acting Party Leader and Floor Leader, Nam In-soon, Chairperson, and Jin Sung-joon, Policy Chairperson, are taking a commemorative photo at the launch ceremony of the Democratic Party of Korea's Pension Reform Special Committee held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul. /Courtesy of Yonhap News Agency

Park Chan-dae, the acting representative of the Democratic Party and floor leader, said at the inauguration ceremony of the pension reform special committee held at the National Assembly on the morning of the 10th, “The results of the parameter reform may not satisfy everyone,” and noted, “In fact, the larger mountain is the structural reform of the pension.

He emphasized, “As the population structure is rapidly changing due to low birth rates and aging, and as domestic and international economic uncertainties increase, pension structural reform has become an urgent task that cannot be postponed any longer,” and “Pensions are the most important national policy that guarantees the stable lives of the people and addresses social inequality, as well as a product of solidarity.”

Jin Sung-jun, chair of the Democratic Party's policy committee, stated, “The National Pension must achieve both financial stability and old age income security, making it a challenging task,” and added, “The state and society, not individuals, must take responsibility for the people's old age.”

The Democratic Party's special committee for pension reform will be chaired by Nam In-soon, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee. In addition, Members Kim Nam-hee, Kang Sun-woo, and Kim Yoon of the Welfare Committee, as well as Member Kim Nam-geun of the Political Affairs Committee, and Member Mo Kyung-jong of the Interior and Safety Committee participated.

Previously, the Democratic Party and the People Power Party passed a national pension reform plan to gradually increase the insurance premium rate from the current 9% to 13% and to raise the income replacement rate to 43% in the main session of the National Assembly.